Editor’s Note: Last month we introduced you to our most recent project of updating four bikes: a 2012 Sportster® XL1200V (72), a 2013 Softail® FLS (Slim), a 2012 FLHTCUTG Tri-Glide® and a 2012 Goldwing GL1800P, here. We have been busy in the last month! Here is a low down on the work done.

To characterize the work surrounding the projects as hectic would be like referring to LeBron James as a forward for the Miami Heat.  While true, it just doesn’t tell the whole story.

Progress has been incredible, especially when you consider there are four bikes in the process at the same time.  Not … Continue Reading

Bike Week is only two weeks away. With all the bike festivities going on during the day and all the vendors set up at the J&P Cycles Destination Daytona Superstore helping customers with their questions, surely people are looking for a way to unwind at the end of the day. But what is there to do at night in this town? Simple! We come alive at night, and so do many others!

Here at the Coca-Cola Pavilion, located within the Destination Daytona complex, you can expect to see many bands performing on stage like this year’s featured artist Shooter Jennings, alongside with Diablo Canyon, plus Stephen Foster & Howler. If … Continue Reading

Editor’s Note: The following is the second in a series by J&P’s own Rick Jessen to show you what can be done to personalize your motorcycle with a little imagination and a J&P Cycles catalog. A plus, one doesn’t need to spend a fortune on custom, fabricated one-of-a-kind parts.

So now you have seen how this bike looked when I bought it (The Evolution of My Evolution – Part I), let’s continue with the first phase of changes.  I have not been known as a person who uses a windshield, but since I turned 60 last year I thought I could use a small shield. I purchased … Continue Reading

Recently it was announced that Jesse James is relaunching West Coast Choppers. To many fans and friends, this is great news. Personally, I have always had a certain amount of respect for anyone who can back up the talk. Love or hate his work, the simple fact remains, he knows how to build and create things with his hands that many of us only dream of.

Jesse James has done for the Harley-oriented motorcycle community, what Jeremy McGrath did for motocross. He put it on the map. His art form mixed with his attitude has made him entertaining to say the least. These are the traits that seem to … Continue Reading

Editor’s Note:What appears below is a guest blog post from veteran biker Jeff Maddox, who regularly holds court over at the JMAdog blog.

We bikers are a friendly bunch. You’ve seen it a million times during riding season-a wave with the left hand in a show of unity, and as a symbol of the sport we all love. I will say that in the surrounding miles of a rally where motorcyclists gather, the wave can get a little over-done. But I also think that a wave from seasoned riders can be a good thing for new riders who have just started their adventure in motorcycling. From the seat of our motorcycle we … Continue Reading

There are three main criteria used in pricing motorcycle repairs. The first is labor, or what the shop charges for the time and expertise that goes into repairing your vehicle. The second is parts, and whatever other shop support materials are used in the repair process. The third is fixed costs or overhead costs the repair shop has to cover, but that’s not reflected on your bill.

To diagnose a computer problem on today’s modern motorcycles, certified technicians must go through very extensive (and expensive) training. In addition, the equipment used by the technician to get accurate readings is costly.

Certain costs are not passed onto the consumer. Those … Continue Reading

Editor’s Note: Mike McGuire is a tech chatter in the Destination Daytona SuperStore. He’s been with J&P since December 2010, where he started as a phone tech. A Harley-Davidson tech, Mike has a master of chassis certification from Harley-Davidson. Originally from Michigan, he graduated cum laude from Walsh College in Michigan, where he received his bachelor’s degree in business administration. He is also a graduate of the Motorcycle Mechanics Institute. Before joining the motorcycle industry, Mike worked in design and building of tooling and fixtures for the automotive industry.

Married to Kelly, the two like to travel to the Caribbean and take road trips on their 2009 Harley-Davidson Electra … Continue Reading

J&P Cycles’ Iowa showroom underwent some noticeable layout changes in the last few weeks with the restructuring of the soft goods and metric areas of the store. A major reason for restructuring was to give the ever expanding metric parts area a bigger footprint. This redesign provided an opportunity to not only remerchandise existing parts, but to eliminate slow moving and discontinued parts and add a selection of some of the newest parts on the market.

An added bonus of the redesign is the better traffic flow provided. Previously with the clothing located directly in front of the middle counter, the main counter where purchases are made, congestion was frequently … Continue Reading

Greetings everyone and welcome to 2013!  First off, thank you for the support and comment posts on my last blog entries.  It’s great to hear from you!  Believe it or not, I read each and every comment and had a blast doing it.  Now, let’s get down to business, shall we?  We’re going to leave the worlds of motorcycling philosophy and needling popular culture behind for a while and get down to why you’re here, and I have a job…BIKES!

If you have been a customer of J&P Cycles over the years you have seen some killer custom machines grace our catalog covers and displayed in our showrooms.  It’s been … Continue Reading

Over the years I have worked on all kinds of bikes, street bikes, dirt bikes, mini bikes and everything else under the sun. I am happy to say that I have never had to pay a mechanic to work on my bike. I have always managed to take the challenge of working on my bike head-on whether I knew what I was doing or not. I use the resources around me to get the problems fixed. Sometimes this is really a frustrating endeavor, but in the end, it is worth it!

Last year I was working on an old street bike and pulled a real bonehead move! While I was … Continue Reading